Engine-starter.



1). MURPHY, SR.

ENGINE STARTER.

APPLICATION FILED PEB.18,1914. I 1, 1 22,986. Patented Dec. 29, 1914.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

D. MURPHY, Sn.

ENGINE STARTER.

APPLICATION FILED IEB.18,1914.

Patented Dec. 29, 1914.

2 BHEETS-SHEET 2.

lwwwtov Ja/aZ/ zzqzd7r W M wibneoomf DANIEL MURPHY, $3.,

01 IDAGROVE, IOWA.

ENGINE-STARTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 29, 1914.

Application filed February 18, 1914. Serial No. 819,498.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, DANIEL MURPHY, Sr., a citizen of the United States, residing at Idagrove, in the county of Ida and State of Iowa, have invented new and useful Improvements in EngineStarters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to engine starters, the object in view being to provide a mechanical starting device for engines of the internal combustion type, the said starting device being operable manually by the driver while seated in the machine.

One aim of the present invention is to provide mechanical starting mechanism which may be readily applied to the engines of automobiles. motor trucks and the like already on the market and which is of such simple construction that the liability of the mechanism to be disarranged is reduced to a minimum.

\Vith the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts, as will hereinafter be more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a plan view of a sufficient portion of an automobile to illustrate the application of the present invention thereto. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a front elevatiomthereof. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of the slidable rack bar. Fig. 5 is a similar view of the thrust member.

Referring to the drawings A designates the frame of an automobile, B the engine which is conventionally shown and C the engine shaft. Combined with the forward end of the engine shaft C is a cranking shaft D which is provided with a clutch face 2 adapted to engage a clutch face 1 on the engine shaft, the clutch faces 1 and 2 being of the usual construction.

In carrying out the present invention, the cranking shaft D is provided adjacent to the forward extremity thereof with a spur pinion 3 which meshes with and is actuated by a slidable rack bar 4 having a rack face 5 which directly engages the pinion 3. The

shaft D is rotatable and also shiftable longitudinally and in order to accommodate the longitudinal movement of the shaft without throwing the pinion out of mesh with the rack bar, the working face of the pinion 3 is made considerably wider than the corresponding working face 5 of the rack bar 4. The rack bar 4 is provided with guide loops 6 which embrace and slide upon a stationary guide bar 7 extending transversely of the machine frame adjacent to the front end thereof as shown in Fig. 1. Extendin wardly from the top face of the rack ar 4 are pins 8 which work in oblique slots 9 in a thrust member 10 which is mounted to slide upon the upper face of the rack bar 4 and which is provided along its forward edge with an upstanding shoulder 11 which bears against the pinion 3 on the shaft D as may be found most convenient. If desired, a plate 12 may connect the upper ends of the pins or studs 8 so as to prevent the escape of the thrust member 10 from said pins. The thrust member 10 as well as the rack bar 4 is actuated by manually controlled means, the same comprising, in the preferred embodiment of this invention, a hand lever 13 mounted within convenient reach of the operator in his seat on the machine. This lever is fast on a rock shaft 14 journaled in bearings and extending transversely of the machine frame and said rock shaft is provided, preferably at one end, with a crank arm 15 from which a rod 16 extends toward the front end of the machine. Connected to the front end of the rod 16 is a flexible chain or cable 19 which passes around a guide pulley 18 at the corner of the frame and thence transversely of the frame where it is connected at 19 to one end of the thrust member 10. A retracting spring 20 has one extremity attached to the opposite end of the thrust member 10 while the opposite end of said spring is connected to a fixed point 21 on the frame.

In operation, when the lever 13 is operated, through the medium of the shaft 14 and connections above described, the thrust member 10 is moved toward the pulley 18. In this movement, through the cooperation of the pins 8 and slots 9, the thrust member 10 is moved toward the engine thereby shifting the shaft D into clutched engagement with the engine shaft C. As soon as the pins 8 meet with the ends of the slots 9, the thrust member 10 takes up the rack bar 4 and thereupon the rack face 5 cooperates with the pinion 3 to impart rotary motion to the crank shaft D thus turning over the engine. Upon releasing the hand lever 13, the spring 20 acts first on the thrust member 10 to move the thrust shoulder 11 away from the engine permitting a coiled expansion spring 22 on the shaft D to thrust the latter forward thereby freeing the engagement be tween the clutch faces 1 and 2. Thereafter, the spring 20 acts to retract the rack bar 4 I and return the same to its initial position of rest.

The mechanism above described is extremely simple in construction as well as operation and does not involve the use of any delicate parts which are liable to get out of order. Furthermore, the starting mechanism may be readily applied to the present day automobile, motor truck and the like.

What I claim is:

1. In an engine starter, the combination with an engine shaft and a fotatable and longitudinally shiftable cranking shaft, of a spur pinion on said crank shaft, a slidable rack bar engaging said pinion, manually operable means for actuating said rack bar, and a thrust member slidable relatively to said rack bar and acting to thrust said crank shaft into engagement with the engine shaft.

2. In an engine starter, the combination with an engine shaft and a rotatable and longitudinally shiftable cranking shaft, of a spur pinion on said crank shaft, a slidable rack bar engaging said pinion, manually operable means for actuating said rack bar, and a thrust member slidable relatively to said rack bar and acting to thrust-:said crank shaft into engagement with the engine shaft, the working face of said pinion being wider than the Working face of said rack bar.

3. In an engine starter, the combination with an engine shaft and a rotatable and longitudinally shiftable cranking shaft, of a spur pinion on said crank shaft, a slidable rack bar engaging said pinion, a thrust member slidable relatively to said rack bar and acting to thrust said crank shaft into engagement with the engine shaft, and manually operable means connected with said thrust member for actuating the latter, said thrust member serving to actuate said rack 4. In an engine starter, the combination with an engine shaft and a rotatable and longitudinally shiftable cranking shaft, of a spur pinion on said crank shaft, a slidable rack bar engaging said pinion, a thrust member slidable obliquely relatively to said rack bar and acting to thrust said crank shaft into engagement with the engine shaft, and manually operable means connected with said thrust member for actuating the latter, said thrust member serving to actuate said rack bar.

5. In an engine starter, the combination with an engine shaft and a rotatable and longitudinally shiftable cranking shaft, of a spur pinion on said crank shaft, a slidable rack bar engaging said pinion, a thrust member slidable relatively to said rack bar and acting to thrust said crank shaft into engagement with the engine shaft, manually operable means connected with said thrust member for actuating the latter, said thrust member serving to actuate said rack bar, and a retracting spring attached to said thrust member.

6. In an engine starter, the combination with an engine shaft and a rotatable and longitudinally shiftable cranking shaft, of a spur pinion on said crank shaft, a slidable rack bar engaging said pinion, a thrust member slidable relatively to said rack bar and acting to thrust said crank shaft into engagement with the engine shaft, said rack bar and thrust member being provided one with oblique slots and the other with pins working in said slots, and manually operable means connected with said thrust member for actuating the latter, said thrust member serving to actuate said rack bar.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

DANIEL MURPHY, SR. Witnesses L. J. BAXTER, R. B. BAXTER. 

